Ventilating apparatus



A. II. KLEIN. yVEIIIIIIAIIIII; APPARATUS. APPLICATION IILED AIAII. 2I`.`I9I1.

Patented May 6, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.`

A. R. KLEIN. YENTILATING APPARATUS. Amlcmonmio ma. 2|. |911.

Patented May 6,1919.

Uni-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT R. KLEIN, 0F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

VENTII'ATING APPARATUS.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May c, 1919.

Application filed March 21, 1917. Serial No. 156,426.

To all whom, 'it may concern: y

Be 1t known that I, ALBERT R.

I'nmn, a subject of the Emperor of Germani residing at Springfield, in the county of llampden, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilating Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

terior to be ventilated, and in order that itmay pass into the zone of occupancy of the interior, the fresh air is discharged 4from above, usually at high velocity and iu a downwardly direction, or else the fresh air is allowed to escape into the-interior through inlets located near the floor level. In the first case, the blasts may be uncomfortable to the occupants, especially Where the air is heated or cooled, unless the air is discharged at too great an elevation to effectively reach the zone of occupancy; and in the second case the velocity of discharge is so low as to necessitateunduly large distributing conduits. In both cases, the. total quantity of, air discharged into the interior passes through the fan and distributing conduit, which, therefore, must beef comparatively large size and necessitate the use' of a correspond ingly large driving motor; and the air must also pass through the heating and condition'- ing apparatus, where employed, so that those parts of the system also must be of comparatively large size. In still other systems, the :fresh air is discharged near the ceiling of the interior, and is drawn through the zone of occupancy by return conduits opening into the interior near the floor thereof, in which case however, in addition to the comparatively large distributing conduit and fan, a comparatively large return conduit, from the interior to the fan, is required.

In accordance with the present invention, effective circulation through the zone of occupancy is yobtained without, however, em-

ploying return' conduits, and without circulating the total quantity of air discharged into the interior to be ventilated through the distributing conduit or through the fan and conditioning apparatus, where employed. I

return conduits.

do this by causing the fresh air to induce into mixture with it, just prior to entry into the interior, a comparatively large volume of air from the interior. For this purpose an inlet duct for the. interior communicates withthe distributing conduit, and a suction duct communicates at one end with the iuterior to be ventilated and at the other end with the inlet duct. lBy arranging the inlet to the interior above the zone of occupancy thereof, and the open end of the suction duct Within that Zone, or vice versa, the fresh air is effectively drawn through the zone of occupancy without discharging the mixture in strong blasts directed toward the zone of occupancy, and without the use oi Furthermore, since a comparatively large volume of air from the interior, say from one-half to nine-tenths or even more, is mixed with the-fresh air just prior to entry into the interior, the distributing conduit- 4conducts only a part oi the an' dischargedinto the interior and therefore may be of comparativel y small size, or else the frequency of renewal of the air in the.

zone of occupancy is increased. In fact, these advantages may be combined, as desired. In this system itis preferable, though not essential, to pro vide a fan or other circulating means for maintaining a current of fresh air in the distributing conduit, but where used, the fau, and consequently the driving motor therefor, may be of compara-l i tively smallsizc, and likewise the conditioning apparatus, where used, may be Ofcomparatively small size. Moreover, as a result of the fact that a comparatively large part of the mixture is air from the interior, the fresh air may be heated or cooled to a temperature considerably different from'the temperature of the interior, and thus the heating or cooling apparatus may notonly be, de creased in size on account. of the comparatively small quantity of air passed therethrough, butits operationis improved on account of the greater rangeof temperature employed.

Although it is not essential, I prefer to provide an injector in the inlet duct, 'because by so doing the velocity, or the pressure, or both, of the fresh air maintained in the distributing conduit may be increased without lcausing diseomforting blasts in the zonelof mixture with the fresh air, by means of the injector, the size of the distributing conduit is further reduced. In fact, I even prefer to increase the induction effect of the injector. I find that this may be done by increasing the length of the inlet duct but, preferably by providing means forcausing theair to whirl in passing .through that duct. This whirling effect may be accomplished by causing the fresh air, or a portion of it, to take,a spiral path along the injector, or along the inlet duct as, for instance, by providing inwardly-projecting spirally-extending fins on the interior of the injector or the inlet duct, or both. If desired, the air may be caused to Whirl in passing through the inlet duct by providing a spiral path in the suction duct for the air induced from the interior. The whirling motion of the air not only draws a larger proportion of air from the interior, even where the inlet duct is decreased in length, but it also serves to'promote the mixing of the fresh air with the air from the-interior before 'entry intothe interior. Furthermore, the increasedinduction effect causes theair from the interior to fio-w into mixture with the fresh air at a culation and renewal of the air throughout the entire zone of occupancy of the interior.

Whether one or a number of inlets are provided, the circulation and frequency of're' newal within the zone of occupancy may be effectively varied by dampers regulating the flow of interior air through the suction.

ducts,I and this variation may be further modified in a desirable manner "by also -providing dampers for regulating the quantity .j of fresh air Apassing from the distributing conduit into the inlet\ducts. In practice, find that adesirable form of the inlet duct andthe suction duct consists of a pipe hung within the interior to be ventilated and having a substantially horizontal portion which is located above the zone of occupancy and into which the injector extends, 'and also having a substantially vertical portion extending in close proximity to the floor. Y

Systems in accordance with this invention .mayembody all or only some of the foregoing instrumentaliti'es, and the apparatus may, itf desired, beoperated 'in substantial accordance with the process disclosed in my copending application. Serial No. 43,197. led August 2,1,1915., l'

In the accompanying drawings,rillustrat lng the preferred embodiments ofthe inven- IVis indicated by the reference 3.

tion, wherein, as an example, a fan, together with heating or cooling apparatus, and conditioning apparatus, are employed.

Figure l represents a transverse section of a building, having wall and floor conduits .for distributing fresh air to a number of interlors; Fig. 2 represents 1n transverse section,A and Fig. 3 in longitudinal section, an industrial shop provided with a hanging flue for distributing the fresh air; Fig. 4 represents, on a larger scale, partly in eleva tion and partly in section, one of the injectors connected to a distributing flue, and the pipe for conducting the air from the interior into mixture with' the fresh air, and for discharging the Imixture into the interior; Fig. 5 represents in like view such a pipe with, however, a shorter inlet duct, and an injector provided with spiraled iins for causing the fresh air to whirl; Fig. 6 represents an arrangement similar to Fig. 5, excepting that spiral fins are also arranged on the inside of the inlet pipe; Fig. 7 is a front view of the inlet pipeI of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 shows a conical member having spiral fins on its exterior; and Fig. 9 shows an arrangement in which spiral fins are in the suction duct.

In the wall and-,floor conduit system of Fig. 1, fresh air is drawn by the fan 1 from the exterior, or from the interior, or from both places, in amounts regulated by the Ivalves o r dampers 2, and is forced through a water spray or other cleansing or humidifying apparatus into contact with the heating or cooling apparatus, al1 of which a paratus 4 he fresh air then passes through the floor conduit 4 and through each of the injectors 5, or other devices suitable for inducing currents of air into the wall conduits 6 through outlets 7 4controlled by regulating valves or dampers `8. The fresh air and air drawn from the lower zone of the interiors through the outlets7 mix at the end of the injectors 5 just prior to entry of the mixtures into the upper zone of the interiors at the inlets 9.

In the Hue system of Figs. 2 and 3, the fresh air is forced through the distributing conduit or flue 10. In case of a large interior, as shown, the current of fresh air is 'sub-divided at a suitable number of places along the length of the conduit,` and each sub-divided current is directed through an injector 5, thereby inducing `separate cur,

rents of air throughv the vertical suction ducts 11 which extend from the lowerzone inlet ducts 12.

The mixtures are` In both .Systems hereinbeforel described,`

or-less above the Hoor level, although the outlets may, if desired, be located eight feet 4 'sary for the air, when heated, to overcome its natural tendency torise to the ceiling;

and it also effects more Vuniformly distrib nted ventllation and heating or coohng of the air throughout the zone of occupancy, substantially from top to bottom thereof.

By means of the valves or dampers 2 and 8,and also the damper 18 in the injector connection, the temperature. velocity, hu-

midity and other characteristics' of the mixi tures directed into the-interior may be nicely Varied` in the systems of Figs. 1 and 2. and the frequency of renewal of air in the zone of occupancy may be varied by changing the proportion of the fresh air and thefairv in-l duced from the interior through the outlets. Urdinarily,onehalf to nine-tenths or even more of the mixture will be induced from the lower zone of the interior, while the proportional amounts taken from the exterior and interior to make up the fresh air will depend upon the exterior temperature and other well known conditions.

As a result of the fact that a comparatively large volume of air from the interior is mixed with the fresh air just prior to entry into the interior, the temperature of the fresh vair may be considerably different from the temperature of the mixture discharged into the interior. and the velocity or pressure, or both, may be considerably higher than that of the mixture.` In fact, in heating interiors in accordance with the present invention, the temperature of the fresh air may considerably exceed 1200 F., which was formerly considered as the upper limit of temperature permissible lin air blast systems; likewise the limit of 300 feet per minute as the velocityof the fresh air in the distributing conduits of prior air blast systems maybe considerably exceeded on account of a reduction of velocity occurring just prior to entry into the interior; and` also because drawing the air through the outlets permits the mixture to be discharged horizontally into the interior. The temperature lto whichvthe fresh air is cooled,

when the system is used for cooling interiors,

maybe as low as 40 F., and the temperature vto which the fresh air is heated, when the system is used for heating interiors,VA

may be as high 1,000o F., on account of the mixture of the heated or cooled air With a comparatively large volume of airfrom the interior just prior to entry into the interioia'as aforesaid. Also, the pressure given to the air may be one-iiftieth 0f an ounce to four ounces, andthe velocity may be 100 vfeet per minute to 10,000 feet per minute,

depending upon the conditions obtaining in the system. These characteristic differences give means for considerably cheapening the entire circulating, conditioning and dis-- tributing apparatus` and also for reducing the cost of operation. The air in the zone of Occupancy may be changed more frequently than heretofore even where return conduits were used, because the air is drawn from the interior through a. comparatively short'suction duct extending substantially to the place of discharge into the interior,

instead of extending -from the interior to y the source of the system as heretofore.

l In most cases the air from the interior 4will be drawn from a lower zone. andthe Inlxture will be discharged int-o an upper zone, because this produces a more effect-ive circulation in the interior. However, in some casesw. such as theaters it may be preferable to draw the air from an upper zone and discharge the mixture into, a lower zone.

It is apparent that the invention herein disclosed does not necessarily require the use of a circulating fan, or conditionii'lg apparatus, or an injector.' In fact the circulation may result from the natural tendency of heated air to rise in the distributing con duits, and the inducing eifect of such currents of air may, in some cases` be. suificient to draw air from the interior into mixture with it, without employing an injector for the purpose. However, it is advisable in most cases to employ the injector to increase' the inducing effect, and likewise the advan culate the air at suitable Velocity and pressure.

I have' found thatthe inducing eifect of the fresh air onthe air drawn from the interior into mixture with it, is increased by increasing the length of the inlet duct 12. This increased inducing effect seems to result from increased friction of the air in passing along the inlet duct, but whether or not this explanation is the correct one, I have found by test on a certain system that the 'air induced from the interior by the fresh air is about 123% of the fresh air. when the inlet duct Vextends three feetbeyond the outer end of the injector, and about 181% of the fresh air when the inlet duct extends seven and one-half feet beyond, the injector employed and the other conditions obtaining in the system being otherwise the same. I have also found that the'induction may be increased by causing the a1'r,`or a portion thereof, to whirl in the inlet duct and, in fact, the increase is so material -that a sufficiently large amount of interior is more homogeneous and more effective for ventilation, and heating or cooling. y

In Figs. 2 and 4, I have shown comparatively long inlet ducts 12, such as would preferably be used where the fresh air is -not given a whirling motion, In Figs. 5, 6,

7, 8 and 9, I show various means of causing the'air to whirl in the inlet duct, and,

if desired, this form of the apparatusmay be substituted for the corresponding parts inFigs. 1 to 4. In Fig. 5, the interior of the injector is provided with spiraled ns 13, and in Figs. 6 and 7 spiraled fins 14 are also placed on the interior of the inlet duct to further increase the `induction effect, the

pitch of the spiral in both cases being approximately 200 per foot of duct. In Fig.

8, a conical member 15 has spiraled ns 16 on its exterior for causing a portion of the fresh air to whirl. 'With the construction shown in Fig.5,.and otherwise under the same conditions as in the tests hereinbefore mentioned, I find that the -air induced from the interior by the fresh air is about 157% vof the fresh air-when -the fins 13 are onehalf inch high, and about 530% when the fins are two inches high, the inlet duct hav- 1ng ay length of but three feet. As a result of the spiraled fins in the suction duct, as

show n in Fig. 9, the air induced from the interior 1s caused to whirl in the suction duct. This produces, a whirling motion' of the air, or a portion of it, in the inlet duct, and thereby increases the induction. effect -on the air drawn from the interior.

By combining into a single pipe, the subd V -stantially horizontal inlet duct 12 and the v the flue system ofFigs. 2 and 3.

substantially vertical suction duct '11, the most desirable construction is obtained in Having thus described my invention, what 1. Apparatus for supplying air to interiors and foreffecting circulation of such `air through thel zone of occupancy thereof,

comprising a conduit communicating at one end with the interior to be supplied above such zone and atthe other end with said interior substantially at the bottom of said zone; and means for discharging a current of fresh air into said conduit at a pointbetween said ends, so as to 'draw air from said interior into and through the conduit to. mix

with and temper the fresh air' passing therethrough, and to discharge the resultant mixture into said interior and cause its circulation through said zone. f

2. Apparatus for 'supplying air to interiors and for effecting. circulation of such air-through the zone of occupancy thereof, comprising a conduit embodying a horizontal inlet branch opening into the interior to be supplied above such zone and a vertical suction branch opening at its lower end into said zone; and a distributing conduit communicating with the inlet branch `of the first-named conduit for discharging a current of fresh air therethrough, so as to draw air from said interior into and through the suction branch of said first-named conduit and into the said inlet branch to mix with and temper the fresh air passing through the latter branch, and to discharge the resultant mixture into said interior and causeits circulation through said zone.

3. Apparatus for supplying air to interiors and for effecting circulation of such air through the Z'ne of occupancy thereof, comprising a conduit communicating at one end with the interior to be supplied above such zone and at the other end with said interior substantially at the bottom of said zone; and means for discharging a current of fresh air into said conduit at a point lbetween said ends, so as to draw air from said interior into and through the conduit to mixl with and temper the fresh air passing therethrough, and'to discharge the re'- sultant ,mixture into said interior and cause its circulation through said zone; said airdischarging means including an injector havin its outlet within said conduit.

L1. pparatus for supplying air to interiors and for effecting circulation of such air through the zone of occupancy thereof, comprising a conduit communicating at one end with the interior to be supplied above such zone and at the other end with said interior'substantially at the bottom of said culation through said zone; said air-dis charging means including an injector opening into said conduit; and means for increasing the induction of the injector.

5. Apparatus for supplying air to interiors and for effecting circulation of such air through the zone of occupancyy thereof, comprising a conduit embodying a horizontal inlet branch opening into the interior to be supplied above said zon'e and a verti cal suction branch opening at its lower end into said zone; a distributing conduit'communicating with the inlet. branch of the first-named conduit for discharging a current of fresh air therethrough, so as to draw air from said interior into and through the suction branch of said first-named conduit and into the said inlet branch to mix with and temper the fresh air passing through the latter branch, and to discharge the resultant mixture into said interior and cause its circulation through said/zone; and means for whirling the mixture passing through said inlet branch.

6. Apparatus for supplying air to' inl end with the interior to befsupplied above such zone-and atthe other end with said interior substantiallyl at the bottom of said zone; and means for discharging a current of fresh air into said conduit at a point between said ends, so as to draw air from opening into said conduit and having a.

spiraled bore to whirl the air from. c

7. Apparatus for 'supplying airv to" inissuing thereteriors and for effecting circulation ofsuch air through the zone of occupancy thereof, comprising a conduit communicating at one end with the interior to be supplied above tweensaid ends, so as to draw air from said interior into and through the conduit to mix with and temper the fresh air passing therethrough, and to discharge the resultant mixture into said interior and cause its'circulatofrthrou h said Zone; and meansfor increasing the induction of the air from the interior'into the said conduit.

8. Apparatus for supplying air to interiors and for leecting circulation of such air through the zone of occupancy thereof, comprising 'a conduit embodying a horizontal inlet branch opening into the interior to be supplied above said zone and a vertical suction branch opening at its lower end' into said zone; and a distributing conduitl communicating with the inlet branch of the first-named conduit for discharging Ia current of fresh air thereand'to discharge the resultant mixture into said interiorand cause its circulation through said Zone; the said inlet `branch having spiraled fins on its interior surface to Whirl the air therein. A

` In testimony whereof I afx my signature.

' ALBERT R. KLEIN. 

